Santa Claus is coming to town, so we are taking a bit of a break over Christmas and the New Year. Friday 21st Dec will be the last working day of the year, and we re-open on Wednesday 2 January at 8am sharp!

On Friday, it's time for the annual BALI National Landscape Awards - the main awards event in the industry. The lunch and awards presentation are held at the Great Room, Grosvenor House and apparently, all tickets are sold out. The Great Room is one of the biggest venues in London, with a seating capacity of 1500+, so that gives an idea of the scale of this event.

Emma, Drew, Alex and I are hosting a table for a small number of friends in the business. For me, it will be an occasion to meet some more industry figures and at least exchange business cards with them - although I suspect the sound level will prevent any major marketing deals being done!

Incredible to think, it's seventy years since John Bourne set up his lime-spreading business at Newenden. Today, it is a flourishing business with 65 employees, four distinct operating companies and already moving on to the third generation Bournes in charge.

So it was definitely time to throw a party. The venue was the venerable Spa Hotel in Tunbridge Wells, where the staff with spouses, partners and generally Most Significant Others were treated to drinks and amuses-bouches, an excellent dinner and entertainment ranging from Jonathan's keynote speech (if that is the right word for a wide-roaming historical treatise - with photos) through a new corporate video through some excellent - and loud - dance music.

We all got home eventually but I bet I wasn't the only one to be grateful for the extra hour lie-in resulting from the clocks going back...